Gangnam Style Spirituality

There’s a certain person inside
all of us that hankers for attention. That part of ourselves is released upon
fear, when we don’t seem to fit in so naturally. When the going gets tough
socially the social misfit in us emerges via inauthentic means of personality
and expression. This seems to be what is behind the Gangnam Style song.

The song is about class; not
socioeconomic class, but class of demeanour—of coolness. Those who live in the Gangnam district of
Seoul are said to have this class; so much so they will conceal their coolness. They don’t flaunt their coolness.

What sort of spiritual lessons can
we learn from a song like this that portrays two opposite kinds of people in
each of us: the cool and the not-so-cool?

An Analysis on Social ‘Coolness’

There are times when all of us
have been cool and not-so-cool. When we felt ‘in’, and part of the scene,
little effort went into propping up or projecting a persona. We were just as we
are, without pretence. Yet, there are also times when we are decidedly
uncomfortable, and we feel, even unconsciously, pressured into holding onto a
facade.

Ultimately it comes down to how
comfortable we are within ourselves as compared with our environments. In an
environment with high peer pressure to conform a person’s inauthentic overtures
are more likely to rise to the fore. They are trying their best to adapt to
something unnatural, however desirable it seems.

So, being cool is about being
comfortable in the environment we find ourselves in. Many times we will choose
our environments such that we can feel comfortable. Hopefully these are the
right kinds of environments for both our personalities and our spiritual
growth.

The social lesson on ‘cool versus
not-so-cool’ is simple. We should be as authentic as we can be, and we should
encourage others to be as authentic as they can be. If we don’t live in Gangnam
we shouldn’t pretend we live there.

Gangnam style spirituality,
therefore, is about being ourselves, knowing ourselves, and being true to ourselves,
I feel, in the sight of God. It’s about being appropriately restrained and
creative in cool ways—not putting on anything that’s a fabrication of who we
are.

***

Gangnam Style spirituality is
about authenticity—living a life of truth in a social world. There is a meaning
behind the words that we cannot get from the words and music alone—let’s be our
courageous selves (our cool selves) in the sight of God.